Various known devices have been developed to cool liquids. In-line cooling devices operate by directing liquids through tortuous conduits having cooled surfaces. Another known device includes a sealable liquid container that is placed in direct contact with ice or other refrigerant. Another approach involves submersing a chilled or frozen element into a liquid.
The aforementioned in-line cooling devices conduct warm fluids through an extended, convoluted course defined by cooling elements. However, it is difficult if not impossible to guide limited volumes of fluids through such convoluted courses. Moreover, the internal surfaces of in-line cooling devices are usually not directly accessible for cleaning and cannot be readily disassembled because the internal elements are sealed to form the convoluted conduits. The cooling elements of in-line cooling devices are usually in communication with refrigerant that is supplied by an external pump thereby necessitating permanent cooling line connections that can make disassembly additionally complex.
Similarly, cooling devices that cool fluids utilizing substantially parallel opposed surfaces, such as heat sinks, generally have inaccessible or at best hard to reach surfaces as the plates forming the opposed surfaces are permanently secured.
Separable opposed cooling elements are known but are incapable of achieving rapid cooling. For example, water or other freezable liquids encased in plastic housings in the shape of cubes are incapable of cooling liquids from room temperature to a refrigerator temperature on the order of tens of seconds. Such plastic ice cubes cannot be readily ordered and packed to produce the surface-to-volume ratio required to achieve the level of rapid cooling that is desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,840 to Loofbourrow et al. discloses separable ice containers that can be ordered, temporarily connected, and stacked through the use of integrally formed matching plugs and recesses. However, the ice containers of Loofbourrow et al. are incapable of being readily arranged with a sub-centimeter separation distance between opposingly arranged containers. It has been found that the rate of liquid cooling is extremely sensitive to the separation distance between opposed surfaces when the separation distance is small, for example, less than 1 cm. It has also been found that too small of a separation distance between opposed surfaces can cause the liquid being cooled to freeze or to become adhered to the surfaces. Manual handling of the ice containers is tedious and will not result in the consistent formation of small, optimized separation distances between ice containers. Moreover, such handling of ice containers causes them to absorb heat and reduce their cooling capacity.
Accordingly, a need exists for an apparatus and method that can rapidly cool a predetermined volume of fluid from room temperature to a refrigerator temperature within a relatively short period of time, such as approximately ten seconds or less. Such an apparatus and method should be capable of providing a high-level of cooling efficiency and be operable with multiple types of fluids.